Can you think of the last time you saw something and you just had to tell your friends about it? Do you remember having a great experience at a restaurant and later on tweeting about it? These could be products of word of mouth marketing (WOMM). It is an organic way of spreading information. It uses components of viral marketing. Unlike viral marketing, it spreads through more natural channels.
Word of mouth is a free form of advertisement or promotion (just one reason it’s so stinkin’ important and why we love it). It’s shared by customers. As mentioned by Entrepreneur, It’s triggered by an event the customer experiences. This event is something beyond what’s expected (can be bad publicity too).
If you want all the dirt on WOM marketing, you need to check out WOMMA.com. They have a ton of information on the topic and some pretty interesting word of mouth promotion techniques to learn all about. After seeing it for yourself, you may be quite impressed by the effectiveness of wom marketing.
How are Word of Mouth Marketing and Referral Marketing different?
It’s all about creating a buzz, no matter what type of business you are or product you have. Whether you are a dental clinic, eCommerce store, or a SaaS business. The more you interact with people the more likely your name will spread. Think of word of mouth advertising as a snowball effect. You start off with a small, interesting post on Facebook. That post impresses a couple people, then those people spread the word. Before you know it that one post is all over. It’s about creating mega brand recognition.
Referral Marketing is marketing that focuses on targeting a specific person. It’s intended to encourage them to refer their friends. Referral Marketing (and other referral type marketing) is a segment of WOMM. But, it focuses on targeting a specific person. It’s intended to encourage them to refer their friends. It’s a more proactive way of generating clientele. As you have to actually control the referral process and track the process of conversion. Instead of doing a mass shout-out, the idea of referral marketing is more personal. Referral Marketing is more about creating a bond with specific people. That way they will refer friends and family.
Why is WOM Marketing Important?
Consumers trust their friends. This is why word of mouth marketing is the most valuable source of marketing. WOM doesn’t stop after just one interaction. One person will tell another, and that person will someone else. Then that person will continue the chain and spread the word further…
Plus, it’s a good way for a business to spread the word about a product or service. Word of mouth statistics has proven that people trust their friends and family more than they trust advertisements. According to a Nielsen study… 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family than other advertising. If 92% of consumers prefer suggestions from their friends then WOM marketing is valuable. Plus, having good wom marketing amongst your customer may make it easier for you to ask for referrals.
How Reviews Affect Word of Mouth Advertising
You can increase your word of mouth advertising numerous ways. One way it can increase is because of happy customer reviews. A positive customer experience can get people talking. When people are open to talking about your product, your online reputation increase, and the channels you’re exposed to expand as well. This is because someone may write a review about you on a site like Yelp. That review can then be searched and shared across other channels. And, when other people search for your type of product or service, they will see your name amongst the competitors. This can then spark word of mouth marketing to occur. As you can see, it’s all interconnected… reviews lead to word of mouth.
For example, Brutus and Mindy were talking about chimney sweeping services. Mindy told Brutus that she needed to hire someone to come to her house before winter hits full force. Brutus explained that he too was searching for someone and that he found a few chimney services online that had good reviews. He named off a couple that he was going to look into further (increasing the word of mouth). Mindy actually ended up picking one that he mentioned and started telling all her friends (including Brutus about them). See how word of mouth increase just by having a few good reviews?
How to Use WOMM
Connect with consumers, stop collecting them. Sure you can have millions of social media followers. But you have to be active and try to connect with them. Sounds like relationship marketing, right? If followers are not interested in you, then they are likely not there to help you grow. They’re collecting dust and clogging your real fan base.
You want real fans and supporters. The more passionate your ‘fans’ are about you, the more likely they will share you. The passing of information through word of mouth is powerful in influencing others. It has a way of reaching parties that it might not have been able to do otherwise.
1. Make Yourself Interesting
Think of it as social currency – share what makes you look fun/good/interesting. This will entice sharing. The consumer will feel confident in the information they are sharing. They will be contributing something that is worth talking about. Kudos for being the smart cookie.
2. Create a Trigger
Can you tie yourself into other things that your consumers do or use? LiveChat mentioned, “you can design products that are often triggered by the environment and create new triggers by linking your products and ideas to prevalent cues in that environment”. If people remember you, they will continue to talk about you. Sounds like a great way to start a successful referral program.
3. Have value
If you establish yourself with a few people, they will share the experience with friends. You may not remember the last time you shared a mediocre restaurant or service with someone. But, you can remember an amazing experience at a Japanese restaurant. You also know a coworker who loves sushi. You’ll tell them all about it since it is something that you know that person will value. You know that by sharing valuable information makes you valuable. Great customer service and having a great product are just a few ways to up your value.
4. Provoke Emotion
Creating emotion goes hand in hand with creating value. People are more likely to share something that promotes high arousal. People are more likely to share experiences in which they had some sort of emotion towards. No one shares an ‘OK’ experience. People share the things that make them happy or upset. Think about Yelp – the reviews are either one extreme or the other. Hardly ever does someone take the time or effort to talk about their experience if it was average.
Other Terms That Fall into Word of Mouth Marketing
- Buzz Marketing – Also known as astroturfing. This focuses on getting consumers to create and spread conversation about a product. This grows company awareness through the use of online traffic. Influencers create the ‘buzz’. They are the ones spreading the word about a specific product/service. This is usually done by tools that are attention-grabbing like videos and humor.
- Viral Marketing – the sister of ‘word of mouth marketing’ is viral marketing. Implies that products or services are advertised to everyone that its consumer contacts. Think of internet-based businesses and how their ads spread through social media. Viral Marketing spreads like wildfire – for example, funny YouTube videos.
- Blog Marketing – To promote a product or service via a blog. In this instance, the blogger is the influencer or brand ambassador. Bloggers become word of mouth marketers, word travels quickly to their followers. The blogger provides reviews and ad space to their favorite brands/affiliations. The blogger’s followers are then inclined and share the information with friends.
- Social Media Marketing – Depends on word of mouth marketing. Content on social media has a way of reaching people outside of the original group following. As mentioned earlier, shared content has a higher value when shared by someone you know and trust. This type of marketing is the hub of marketing, especially referral marketing.
Tying in Referral Marketing
Most types of marketing use word of mouth in one way or another. Referral Marketing is no different. In fact, it helps companies get new customers all the time. And after all, that is the whole point of referral marketing. Referral marketing is marketing based on one friend sharing with another. The only real difference is that referral marketing usually tracks the conversion rate. Referral marketing also tracks who is bringing in the new customers. Another reason is there is usually some sort of incentive used in referral marketing. One of these marketing strategies is not ‘better’ than the other. They are not competing to be the ‘best’. Instead, referral marketing is a counterpart. Most times word of mouth is the reason referral marketing works. As mentioned before, people trust their friends and family. Want to take your word of mouth to the next level? Here are some awesome referral marketing tips to help you out.